beast
see also: Beast
Pronunciation
  • (British, America) IPA: /biːst/
Noun

beast (plural beasts)

  1. Any animal other than a human; usually only applied to land vertebrates, especially large or dangerous four-footed ones.
  2. (more specific) A domestic animal, especially a bovine farm animal.
    • 1945 August 17, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter 1, in Animal Farm: A Fairy Story, London: Secker & Warburg, OCLC 3655473 ↗:
      Boxer was an enormous beast, nearly eighteen hands high, and as strong as any two ordinary horses put together.
  3. A person who behaves in a violent, antisocial or uncivilized manner.
  4. (slang) Anything regarded as larger or more powerful than one of its normal size or strength.
    That is a beast of a stadium.
    The subwoofer that comes with this set of speakers is a beast.
  5. (slang) Someone who is particularly impressive, especially athletically or physically.
  6. (slang, derogatory, prisons) A sex offender.
    • 1994, Elaine Player, Michael Jenkins, Prisons After Woolf: Reform Through Riot (page 190)
      Shouts had been heard: 'We're coming to kill you, beasts.' In desperation, Rule 43s had tried to barricade their doors […]
  7. (figuratively) Something unpleasant and difficult.
    • 2000, Tom Clancy, The Bear and the Dragon, Berkley (2001), ISBN 9780425180969, page 905 ↗:
      […] Even unopposed, the natural obstacles are formidable, and defending his line of advance will be a beast of a problem."
    • 2006, Heather Burt, Adam's Peak, Dundurn Press (2006), ISBN 9781550026467, page 114 ↗:
      He'd be in the hospital a few days — broken collarbone, a cast on his arm, a beast of a headache — but fine.
  8. A thing or matter, especially a difficult or unruly one.
Related terms Translations Translations Translations Verb

beast (beasts, present participle beasting; past and past participle beasted)

  1. (British, military) to impose arduous exercises, either as training or as punishment.
Adjective

beast

  1. (slang, chiefly Midwestern and northeastern US) great; excellent; powerful
    • 1999, "Jason Chue", AMD K6-2 350mhz, FIC VA503+, LGS 64mb PC100 sdram (on newsgroup jaring.pcbase)
      There is another type from Siemens which is the HYB 39S64XXX(AT/ATL) -8B version (notice the "B" and the end) which is totally beast altogether.

Beast
Proper noun
  1. (biblical) A figure in the Book of Revelation (Apocalypse), often identified with Satan or the Antichrist.
  2. A wild animal, or seemingly so, which roams free in a country it is usually only found in zoos. (For example The Beast of Bodmin Moor).
Translations


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